The Musical Electronics Library (or MEL) is a
lending library
A lending library is a library from which books and other media are lent out. The major classifications are endowed libraries, institutional libraries (the most diverse), public libraries, and subscription libraries. It may also refer to a library ...
of homemade electronic musical devices in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
and
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, and is a worldwide leader in the Scavengetronica movement.
The library contains
electrolytic capacitor
An electrolytic capacitor is a polarized capacitor whose anode or positive plate is made of a metal that forms an insulating oxide layer through anodization. This oxide layer acts as the dielectric of the capacitor. A solid, liquid, or gel el ...
s, rampwave
oscillators,
white noise generators, light
theremin
The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...
s,
sample and hold
In electronics, a sample and hold (also known as sample and follow) circuit is an analog device that samples (captures, takes) the voltage of a continuously varying analog signal and holds (locks, freezes) its value at a constant level for a ...
s,
ring modulators,
preamplifier
A preamplifier, also known as a preamp, is an electronic amplifier that converts a weak electrical signal into an output signal strong enough to be noise-tolerant and strong enough for further processing, or for sending to a power amplifier an ...
s,
pitch shift
Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. Effects units that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval ( transposition) are called pitch shifters.
Pitch and tim ...
ers,
phasers, and
mixers; mostly built inside repurposed
VHS cases.
Highlights of the collection include the "electric bee motorcycle sound-maker box", a device which emulates the sound of
meowing
A meow or miaow is a cat vocalization. ''Meows'' may have diverse tones and are sometimes chattered, murmured or whispered. Adult cats rarely meow to each other, so an adult cat meowing to human beings is probably a post-domestication extens ...
cats inside a
Cats
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...
VHS box, and "
Mad Max
''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...
" which has been described as "
Merzbow
is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists.
The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...
in a box".
MEL is run by volunteers and curated by musician and device-builder
Kraus
Kraus is a German surname meaning "curly". Notable people with the surname include:
* Adalbert Kraus (born 1937), German tenor
* Adam Kraus (born 1984), American footballer
* Adolf Kraus (1850–1928), lawyer and Jewish leader
* Adolph Robert ...
. The library was inspired by the work of
Nicolas Collins
Nicolas Collins (born March 26, 1954 in New York City) is a composer of mostly electronic music, a sound artist and writer. He received his BA and MA from Wesleyan University, and his PhD from the University of East Anglia. Upon graduating from ...
and
Bob Widlar
Robert John Widlar (pronounced ''wide-lar''; November 30, 1937 – February 27, 1991) was an American electronics engineer and a designer of linear integrated circuits (ICs).
Early years
Widlar was born November 30, 1937 in Cleveland to pare ...
. Musicians using equipment from MEL include Hermione Johnson, Kraus, Pumice, Diana Tribute,
Samuel Flynn Scott, the MEL Orchestra, Piece War,
Ducklingmonster,
the Biscuits, Powernap,
Herriot Row, and Chronic Fatigue Sindrome.
The library has been running
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
-building workshops around New Zealand.
MEL also co-hosts an open weekly
maker night with the
Auckland University of Technology
Auckland University of Technology (AUT) ( mi, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT ...
where projects are developed in a collaborative environment.
Kraus stated in a
New Zealand Listener
The ''New Zealand Listener'' is a weekly New Zealand magazine that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, including current events, politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, f ...
interview that "doing any kind of community project like this for me is a political thing - of self-organisation and encouraging people to take control of their lives, instead of just being a consumer, buying something someone else has made, or some robots in China. The kind of empowerment that comes from learning a new skill is a really powerful thing."
He said in NZ musician magazine that he wants "to emphasise the idea of sharing and also reducing waste through re-using things and giving seemingly broken or out of date things a new purpose."
The library started in Auckland and 2014 and opened a Wellington chapter in 2016.
Gallery
File:20221210 123332 Musical Electronics Library.jpg
File:20221210 123452 Musical Electronics Library.jpg
File:20221210 123501 Musical Electronics Library.jpg
File:20221210 123506 Musical Electronics Library.jpg
File:20221210 123517 Musical Electronics Library.jpg
References
External links
Musical Electronics Library blogMusical Electronics Library Auckland microblogMusical Electronics Library Auckland inventoryMusical Electronics Library Wellington inventoryDocumentary on MEL
{{Authority control
Electronic music organizations
Libraries in Auckland
Organisations based in Auckland
Libraries in Wellington
Music organisations based in New Zealand
Underground culture
Hackerspaces
DIY culture
Tool libraries
Music libraries